Unlocking the Power of Olympic Lifting
Introduction
A lifter attempting a snatch, one of the two Olympic lifts.
Any fitness enthusiast can benefit from adding Olympic-style weightlifting to their training program.
Whether you're a recreational athlete or you're seeking to optimize your health, weightlifting offers some unique benefits.
But this style of barbell lifting often appears intimidating, even if you're well-versed in the powerlifts like the squat and the deadlift.
This article will detail the specific advantages of mastering Oly technique and break down the movements into their component parts. By the end, you should feel confident enough to try them on their own or find a local strength coach to guide you.
What Is Olympic Lifting?
Officially, the complete term "Olympic Weightlifting" refers to a strength sport that has been part of the Olympic Games since 1898. You may also hear the shorthand Oly lifting or weightlifting. These distinguish them from general strength training or the primary strength sport, powerlifting.
The competition consists of two explosive, full-body barbell movements: the snatch and clean and jerk. Each requires a unique blend of strength, power, coordination, and athleticism.
These events also now take place at meets throughout the year in locations around the world. Here in the states, USA Weightlifting (USAW) serves as the official governing body.
They've also become a popular training tool in their own right. CrossFit popularized their use in the early 2000s by making them a key component of their functional fitness model.
Why You Should Add Olympic Lifting to Your Training
Many sports like soccer require reactive strength and explosiveness, which a proper strength and conditioning program can improve by utilizing weightlifting.
Olympic weightlifting provides powerful mental and physical results.
Any brand-new exercise that we undertake typically improves cognition. Moving our bodies in different ways requires our brains to adjust accordingly. This results in the formation of new neural pathways.
These improvements tend to increase as we gain more mastery of the technique. The caveat is that we must continually challenge ourselves sufficiently and remain actively aware of the task at hand. For example, repeating an easy task like indoor cycling with little resistance while spacing out confers fewer benefits. By contrast, you'll reap rewards if you decide to bike on an elevated trail while focusing on perfecting each stride.
Oly lifts provide a huge mental payoff by requiring enormous levels of concentration and focus. Unlike with other forms of resistance training like a bench press or a machine, you cannot simply muscle your way through a snatch. Each part of the movement requires proper form to be successfully executed.
Once you've committed yourself to the learning process, you'll also experience transformative physical effects.
1. Get Stronger, More Powerful, and Faster
Olympic lifts generate high power outputs, combining strength and speed. This translates to:
Improved sprinting and jumping ability
Enhanced performance in sports like tennis, soccer, basketball, and cycling
Greater ease with daily activities and recreational pursuits
2. Boost Your Work Capacity and Endurance
Incorporating Olympic lifts into your routine enhances your ability to handle more exercise per session and recover more quickly. This means you can train harder, longer, and more often. Or, if you're a busy adult with lots of responsibilities, you'll notice more consistent performance when you do train.
3. Fortify your Joints.
Olympic lifts require you to move through a full range of motion, targeting the shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles.
Many people worry that exploding through these ranges puts the joints at risk. But like any activity, progressive overload is the key.
A skilled coach will start with easy drills and warmups that prepare the body for the demands of lifting. They will often start with a dowel ride or PVC pipe for practice before moving onto a training bar.
By taking a methodical approach you actually improve the ability of your joints to produce and withstand force.
4. Increase Bone Density
An experienced Olympic weightlifting coach will modify your loads and movements accordingly. By choosing challenging but doable weights, your bones respond like any other soft tissue. The stimulus forces them to adapt and releases hormones that make them stronger, which helps us age gracefully into our 40s and beyond when natural losses in bone density occur.
5. Enhance Coordination, Balance, and Mobility
Weightlifting demands precise synchronization.
You must develop a rhythm for the different phases of the lift. Bringing the bar too far in front of you during a snatch will make it challenging to get it overhead. Likewise, squatting too early robs you of momentum.
By mastering triple extension you become aware of how to use your body across many domains of life and sport.
7. Boost Metabolism and Cardiovascular Health
Building muscle through Olympic lifting increases your resting metabolic rate, helping you burn more calories throughout the day. Research also shows that resistance training can improve blood pressure and reduce heart disease risk.
8. Improve Mental Health and Confidence
Exercise, including Olympic lifting, is proven to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. Mastering new skills and seeing your strength grow also boosts self-confidence, both inside and outside the gym.
9. Enjoy Functional, Real-World Strength
Olympic lifts mimic the explosive, multi-joint movements needed in sports and daily life. From picking up groceries to playing with your kids, you’ll notice newfound strength and stability
10. Keep Your Workouts Fun and Engaging
Last but not least, new physical activities provide unique challenges. While it can be stressful to try something new, you'll gain incredible motivation as a result and add another variation to your fitness toolkit.
How to Start Olympic Lifting
Let's assume you're reading to add lifting to your fitness regimen. The most important step is figuring out exactly where it fits into your training and your life.
Here are a few possibilities:
Coach Astrid Apopa demonstrates proper technique to a new student using just a PVC pipe.
You Already Strength Train: Let's say you're lifting 2-3 times per week, combining heavy weight with more bodybuilding-style workouts. I would add 1 day of Oly lifting per week. Just ensure you're pulling back on the other sessions a bit to manage your overall workload.
Your Primarily Powerlift: In this scenario you prioritize strength development with 3-4 heavy sessions. Adding 1 day of Oly lifting will vary your programming. Remember, though, that the benefit will mainly be to your fitness and your mental health, but not directly to your 1 rep maxes.
You Want to Optimize Functional Fitness: Some people decide they love Oly lifting but want to incorporate it into their own program rather than following a group training model. Twice per week is ideal, typically before your conditioning or after your rest days.
You want to Improve Sports Performance: The approach will depend on many factors including your competition schedule. If you're an off-season across player than 2 sessions is ideal, whereas you may want to focus on just one day during the season.
When to Seek Coaching
Even experienced lifters can benefit from instruction on the precise technique behind the snatch and clean & jerk. Here are three benefits from working with a certified Olympic lifting coach.
Expert Technical Guidance: Olympic lifts are precise. A qualified Olympic lifting coach will teach you proper form, ensure safety, and tailor workouts to your experience level.
Progressive Learning: You’ll start with lighter weights and drills to master technique before progressing to heavier lifts.
Supportive Community: Many Olympic lifting classes cultivate a welcoming and motivating environment that's ideal for beginners.
Conclusion
The Olympic weightlifting lifts are a phenomenal activity that build strength and resilience. Learning to flip a bar overhead takes time and a lot of failure that comes with a major payoff. Stay tuned for the second article in our series that will delve into the more technical aspects, including the front rack position and when power cleans might also make sense in your development.
